Hillary Clinton is not running away with the 2016 Democratic Presidential nomination just yet, though she has probably already started collecting patriot pantsuits for the occasion. And no, the immediate challenge may not be coming from Joe Biden, who is already prepping a 2016 White House bid, normal for a two-term Vice President, even if the White House is reluctant to talk about it.
Former Virginia Senator Jim Webb, who retired from office in 2013, has spent the last year writing a memoir and avoiding press, but in a recent interview with CNN, he says he’s still undecided as to whether he’ll seek a higher office.
Former Sen. Jim Webb didn’t rule out a run for president in 2016 on Sunday, saying only that he’s glad to be “in the discussion” after a year away from politics.
“We’re taking this one day at a time. I’m very happy to be back in the discussion,” the Virginia Democrat said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
After leaving the Senate in 2013, Webb said, he spent a full year declining interviews and writing a new memoir, “I Heard My Country Calling.”…
“I think I’m better when I can have my own voice,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons I stepped away from the Senate.”
Obviously, the first step to any Presidential campaign is to author a memoir about the political trials and tribulations the prospective candidate has overcome in his or her illustrious service to our nation and the ideals it represents. Jim Webb’s is neither any different, nor lacking in any of the requisite patriotism. It will, of course, be competing head to head with Hillary Clinton’s landscape-leveling account of her time as Secretary of State, a possible preview of what’s to come in early 2016. Joe Biden’s book – or, perhaps, his six-disc greatest hits compilation – has yet to be announced.
Webb, of course, may also have a platform from which to launch his bid: according to Politico, Webb is also on a short list of potential nominees to take over the VA following Gen. Eric Shinseki’s departure.